Sandwich center water fountain close to fruition

SANDWICH — The long drought for fans of the water bubbler next to Sandwich Town Hall is just about over.

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By GEORGE BRENNAN

capecodtimes.com

By GEORGE BRENNAN

Posted Apr. 25, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By GEORGE BRENNAN
Posted Apr. 25, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

SANDWICH — The long drought for fans of the water bubbler next to Sandwich Town Hall is just about over.

Contractors are putting the finishing touches on a railing above a new retaining wall and may be able to remove the Jersey barriers that block access to the sidewalk as soon as next week, Town Engineer Sam Jensen said Wednesday.

But don't get those plastic jugs out yet.

The water will have to be tested and cleared by the state Department of Environmental Protection before the bubbler is reopened to the public, Jensen said.

The $350,000 project, which is Phase 2 of the Town Hall renovation, remains on budget, Jensen said.

Work on the project, which started in October, was delayed for about four months because of the cold winter.

Voters agreed to use the town's Community Preservation Act funds because the area qualifies as historic. The artesian well, a popular spot for people looking for water on the cheap, has been in existence since 1870, according to town historians.

One of the clear signs that the project is nearing completion is a wooden bridge installed across the creek leading from the sidewalk to Town Hall. The bridge was constructed by students at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School.

How did carpentry students at the Bourne school get involved in the project?

"I asked them. It's as simple as that," Selectman Frank Pannorfi said. The idea came out of a lunch conversation with Steven Chalke, a Sandwich representative on the school board for Upper Cape Tech, Pannorfi said.

"Our carpentry students are always looking for interesting projects that would allow them to do something out of the ordinary," Upper Cape Tech Superintendent Robert Dutch said. "It allows them to use some creative skills, work with a contractor and fit into their schedule. They get a sense of what it's like being part of a team and not just doing a small project on their own."

Pannorfi estimates the students saved the town nearly $30,000 by providing free labor. The town purchased the wood for the bridge, he said.

The bridge was built in the carpentry shop at Upper Cape Tech and then moved to the site and installed last week, Jensen said.

That provided a few anxious moments for Dutch because building it off-site involved precise measurements, which the students nailed.

"They did a fantastic job," Pannorfi said. "That thing will hold a herd of elephants."

Dutch said it's a sense of relief that the customer — in this case the town — is happy with what students produced. "I've heard from the town manager and selectmen that they like the way it turned out," he said.

Pannorfi said he knows town residents are eager to go back to the well.

"Put my wife on that list," he said. "You should see the plastic jugs we've accumulated from buying water."